Australia vs United States of America Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Australia
60K active troops
$30B budget
VS
United States of America
1M active troops
$800B budget
59
Tanks
6,612
1,426
Armored Vehicles
45,193
129
Artillery
2,837
6
Rocket Systems
1,366
85
Fighter Jets
1,957
141
Helicopters
5,400
47
Warships
472
6
Submarines
68
Nuclear Arsenal
United States of America
LARGEST
5,044
WARHEADS
Australia
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($B)
Defense Budget as % of GDP
Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)
Military Active Personnel
United States of America
LARGEST
1.35M
TROOPS
Australia
4.4% OF LARGEST
59K
TROOPS
United States of America has 22.84× the active personnel of Australia
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
Australia
3.5% OF LARGEST
465
AIRCRAFT
United States of America has 28.60× the aircraft of Australia
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 59,000 | 1,347,300 |
| Reserve Personnel | 28,850 | 799,500 |
| Total Military Personnel | 88,450 | 2,146,800 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $31,800,000,000 | $816,000,000,000.0 |
| Tanks | 59 | 6,612 |
| Armored Vehicles | 1,426 | 45,193 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 54 | 1,498 |
| Towed Artillery | 75 | 1,339 |
| Rocket Projectors | 6 | 1,366 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 465 | 13,300 |
| Fighters | 85 | 1,957 |
| Attack Aircraft | 24 | 2,800 |
| Transport Aircraft | 47 | 945 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 168 | 2,600 |
| Helicopters | 141 | 5,400 |
| Attack Helicopters | 22 | 983 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 47 | 472 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 2 | 11 |
| Destroyers | 3 | 73 |
| Frigates | 8 | 0 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 23 |
| Submarines | 6 | 68 |
| Patrol Vessels | 13 | 13 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 6 | 8 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
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Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology